Demarcco Hellams

Career StatsD-

Year	Team	GP	INT	PD	Tkl
Career		26	—	—	50
2025		11	0	0	10
2024		1	—	—	—
2023		15

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The Falcons secured an absolute steal with Demarcco Hellams, locking up the safety on a four-year, $3.9M extension that earns an A CVI. At just $1.0M per year, Atlanta is paying depth piece money for a player who brings solid starter upside to their secondary — a textbook example of smart roster building through internal development. The minimal guaranteed money ($0.1M) gives the Falcons incredible flexibility while betting on a young defensive back who's shown flashes of becoming a reliable contributor. This deal represents zero downside risk with significant potential reward, as Hellams could easily outplay this contract if he continues developing within Atlanta's system. The Falcons essentially bought four years of control on a promising safety for the cost of what most teams spend on special teamers, creating tremendous surplus value that could pay dividends as their defense continues to evolve.

Performance Analysis

Demarcco Hellams is a third-year safety for the Atlanta Falcons, a developing backend defender still searching for consistent NFL footing. Through 26 career games, his overall profile grades out at a D-, reflecting a player who hasn't yet translated developmental promise into reliable production. At just 25, however, Hellams still carries the profile of a work-in-progress rather than a finished product. The numbers are difficult to overlook at this stage. His tackles-per-game rate of 0.91 sits dramatically below the NFL average of 3.85, and nowhere near the elite threshold of 6.81 — a gap that signals limited snap count, missed assignments, or both. His seasonal trend tells a troubling story: after a D- in 2023 and a modest uptick to a C- in 2024, Hellams has regressed sharply to an F-grade in 2025, moving in the wrong direction at an age when most young safeties begin emerging. The forward-looking picture remains cautious but not entirely closed. Hellams would benefit enormously from a defined role — whether as a box safety or deep centerfielder — rather than floating situationally. If Atlanta's coaching staff can identify and commit to his best use case, a bounce-back to at least league-average production isn't out of the question. He's a long-shot reclamation project at this point, but 25-year-old safeties with NFL exposure have turned careers around before.

Current Sentiment

DeMarcco Hellams enters the 2026 campaign as one of the more intriguing reclamation stories on the Atlanta Falcons roster, having recently been designated to return from injured reserve after missing nearly an entire calendar year. The narrative surrounding his return is largely sympathetic and curiosity-driven, with media coverage framing his comeback as a testament to perseverance rather than a signal of organizational confidence in his long-term role. His statistical profile remains thin through three NFL seasons, with no recorded interceptions or passes defended, which limits the ceiling of his perceived value regardless of the positive tone attached to his IR activation. The Falcons' simultaneous roster moves — including adding a wide receiver in direct response to his absence — underscore that his injury carried real operational consequences for the team, a subtle indicator that the coaching staff views him as a meaningful contributor in their defensive scheme. Heading into 2026, Hellams occupies a precarious but not hopeless position: fan and media perception will hinge almost entirely on whether he can stay healthy and produce measurable impact in a safety room where opportunity exists but competition remains real.